This, fresh from AoPS, looks like a cool video for end-of-the-year math class
Hard Problems, a documentary about the 2006 United States International Math Olympiad team, is now available at Art of Problem Solving.
Click here to order:
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Books/AoPS_B_Merch.php?item_id=40 The movie shows the dedication and perseverance of these remarkably talented students, the rigorous preparation they undertake, and the joy they get out of solving challenging problems. It captures the spirit that infuses the mathematical quest at the highest level, and features several past Art of Problem Solving students!
For those of you who like documentaries, I recommend older ones
"Mad, Hot Ballroom" and "Spellbound"--my kids loved 'em, too.
I think that I will make the purchase. It would be a great end-of-the-year activity for our math team, like Cym suggests.
Nothing like team building, right ? :-)
Our seventh graders did spectacular on a state contest - I do not have official stats yet but I believe that we came in 3rd overall and 2nd in small schools. Out of something like 70 middle schools! The only two schools that did beat us have "gifted" programs, so they are able to pick their students. Ours in an inner city school. I hope those team scores will be posted soon!!!
It is official!
Our school came in third for 7th grade, second in small schools.
Only six points behind school number one (in small schools), which is in fact a "gifted" school.
I am thrilled!!!
http://www.math.utah.edu/smc/2008/TeamResults2008.pdf
WTG, Ania's son! Congrats!
Hey, thank you ladies :-)
Obviously I have not checked this thread in a while :-)
I bought the documentary, will show it to the kids during the last math club meeting. Will let you know how we liked it.
Ghost will be going to a math camp this summer. A long one....
He is looking forward to being away from us for an extended period of time, we are looking forward to him being in an etremely challenging environment :-)
Honestly, I don't care if he learns anything mathy, I want him to be among the kids that are motivated and high achieving.
A new experience....but he is a big boy now....he absolutely distaes me being involved...is it normal that I still want to be involved????
it's normal in my book. camp will be great for him. he'll miss you more than ever & appreciate your involvement (at least for a week or so when he gets back!). Just part of growing up--they get more independent, but they love knowing you're there and rooting for him.
OK, I saw Hard Problems last night. With my DD10, DS13 was meanwile doing some problems at AoPS site (yay!).
Wa watched the 82 minute feature version. DVS also has a classroom version that is 45 minutes long - that one we plan to show during last math club next week. Pep talk :-)
It is not as entertaining as Spellbound, shooting for not as wide of an audience I guess. Spellbound was fantastic IMO.
Hard Problems is geard more towards mathy kids and their families. It explains the whole AMC process and IMO team selection, but concentrates mostly on 12 kids that are invited USAMOSP, and then on the 6 "chosen ones". It follows them to Slovenia, for a nail biter competition. We get to know the final 6 quite well, through conversations with them, their parents, their teachers. Since the IMO preparation is more of a group one, we do not see the daily studying routines of the six, like we did in Spellbound (the most fascinating part of the movie for me). They study in a group by sloving hard problems :-)
We get to know the coaches and mentors, that follow them. We get to know some of the previous winners - Melanie Woods was SPECTACULAR here, what a lady! - some of the kids that were favorites but did not make it.
Parents talk aboult early fascination with math, but when you listen to the students, all of them say that it was not until middle school, that thay began to do something more with math - I thought that was interesting.
A good buy for math - involved families.
There asre some bonus features, the best one IMO about mathematicians in finance - those mathy kids have some real interest in the stock market!:-)
